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life lately #5

Hey everyone, I'm back! Some of you might have noticed that it's been quiet around here recently. I don't have any real reason for that though, heh. I simply wanted to take a step back from my blog and social media for a while. Just a tiiiny step back. But while I returned to using Twitter and Instagram a couple of weeks later, I somehow ended up neglecting my blog for a month. And on top of that, my domain AND my debit card ended up expiring at the same time, so it took me a while to get the blog back up. But hey, I'm still alive!Reading
Haven't been reading any books lately. (That is, unless you consider my trying to cram as much of my Genki books in my head as I can before the July JLPT as "reading".) I've been reading a ton of manga though, as usual. I recently re-read older works by Hayakawa Nojiko. I also contemplated continuing Haikyuu!! since things seem to be getting exciting, but I've already deleted my ad-ridden manga reader app and I can't be bothered to download manga to read on the PC (what is this, 2007?). I've decided to just buy the physical copies when we visit KL again and pick up from where I left then.

Writing
Just the usual daily writing on the journal. I've been using the same setup for the Midori Passport TN since I started—Free Monthly for schedules, Free Weekly for my daily writing, Grid for any lists or notes. I've also been using the default Blank for drawing and watercolor practice, but having 4 refills on top of a Zipper Case is a bit too much for one TN, so I left it out. I'll probably get it a home of its own soon. I found that this current setup works really well for me, so I'm very happy about that. Mostly because that means I don't need to keep buying and trying any other refills, lol. My only gripe with my current TN is that sometimes the small size feels quite restraining (not a lot of room to put stickers or photos), so I'm thinking of a bigger notebook in the future. Maybe a regular-sized TN orrr something slightly bigger, like a Moleskine notebook.

Watching
Aian and I started watching Brooklyn Nine-Nine last month! We just finished Season 5 this morning. SO GOOD. Funny story – the week that we finally started getting into the B99 hype train was the same week they went and announced that they were cancelling the series, lol. Good thing they got picked up really quickly, because I would hate not having any more new seasons of this awesome show!

For anime, we've only been watching a bunch of series from this season. I'm not that into any of them, so I don't have a lot to say about them, honestly. The only ones I like enough to not scroll through my Twitter feed while watching are Saiki Kusuo, Hinamatsuri, and My Hero Academia. I also like Emiya-san Chi no Kyou no Gohan, but that series only updates once every month, sooo. If you'd like to see what other anime I've watched / been watching in 2018, you can check out my AniList here.

Listening to
For her 20th anniversary, Queen Ringo put up her entire music catalog on Spotify. All of her music is now available for streaming, so I've been listening to all of my faves. Koufukuron, Marunouchi Sadistic, Honnou, Koko de Kiss Shite—all the classics! I've also been trying to listen to her other stuff that I'm not so familiar with. She has A LOT of songs though, so it was a bit overwhelming at first, but I'm slowly sifting through her massive discography.

In the shower, I'm still listening to my K-Pop loop playlist. I've updated it recently, taking out a few WINNER (😭) songs and adding some new ones I like—PENTAGON's Shine, (G)I-DLE's LATATA, MOMOLAND's Bboom Bboom, etc.

Recently Purchased
I'm still doing the don't-buy-unless-you-really-need-it-in-your-life method of saving money, so I haven't been buying anything unnecessary. My most recent purchases were skincare things I'd been meaning to buy since the start of the year, but put off buying because I wasn't sure if I was ready to commit to a full skincare routine again. I talked about this briefly before, but because of a bout of depression late last year, I forgot about skincare completely. When I got better, I went back to doing skincare, but only doing the bare minimum. Cleanse, tone, moisturize. Sunscreen for when I go out. Sheet mask when I feel like it. I kept this up without adding any extras—acids, serums, etc.—until I got comfortable with it again. (Trust me, there were days when the most "skincare" I did was splashing my face with water.) This month I decided to slowly work my way to doing a multi-step routine again. I repurchased my favorite Banila Co. Clean It Zero (Supersize, with the cute new packaging), and bought two new things – the TIA'M My Signature C Source Vitamin C Serum, and the COSRX Advanced Snail Mucin 96 Power Essence. I added these to my current routine starting June 1st, and they're working really well for me so far.

Recently Bookmarked
I've been watching a lot of Youtube videos these days. I watch a lot of Youtube on the regular, but I feel like I spent more time doing it during this past month. I've been watching mostly vlogs and Korean variety show clips. My favorite channel right now belongs to a Japan-based Polish artist named Mateusz Urbanowicz. I found his channel while I was doing research about Makoto Shinkai's work. Mateusz worked on (more than 120!!) backgrounds for Kimi no Na wa. His channel is full of watercolor sketching videos, and a bit of other stuff like digital painting and DIY projects. When I started playing around with watercolors, I was quick to think that maybe it just wasn't for me. Seeing his channel made me want to try it again. I love the way he paints! I think it's because his work reminds me of Ghibli films, which turns out, is also one of his inspirations! He released a book of his work this year, Tokyo Storefronts, and I plan on buying it once I get my hands on a copy.

Looking forward toEiga Sai 2018! Last year I got to watch Chihayafuru 2 with friends. They haven't announced the movie lineup for 2018 yet, but I'm hoping I get to watch something with friends this year, as well!

What have you been up to lately? :)

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